How much milk can be stored and where is it best to do?

The benefits of dairy products, promoted by doctors and nutritionists, are possible only with fresh, high-quality, nutritious products. For this reason, the proper storage of milk plays such an important role in the life of every modern person. Of course, you can simply purchase a drink by reading the expiration date on the package. But in this case, there is a risk that useful components will not be obtained in the right amount, and in some cases food poisoning is possible.

Even if the container says how much a particular product can be stored in the refrigerator or at room temperature, it is better to play it safe with average indicators and effective recommendations.

Shelf life of milk and methods for their extension

Despite the fact that today store shelves are bursting with pasteurized drinks, placed in special packaging, many still prefer home-made or farm products. In this case, you must know how to store milk correctly and how much it will save its freshness.

If the farm does not have a cellar or a suitable cool room, store the food product in the refrigerator:

8-10ºС - raw milk should be drunk within 12 hours.
6-8ºС - the period increases to 18 hours.
4-5ºС - no more than a day.
3-4ºС - 32-36 hours.
1-2ºС - two days.

If the liquid is boiled, the recommended period will increase to 4 days, but such a treatment too negatively affects the chemical composition of the drink, reducing its benefit to a minimum.

Tip: Only a few use freezing as a method of storing milk. But this approach allows you to extend the standard period to 1.5-2 months, with virtually no loss of nutritional value and useful components.

If we are talking about a store product, then it can be stored exactly as much as indicated on the package, but only until it is opened. After this, milk should be drunk within two days, even if it was originally stored in a tetrapack and could stand at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to six months without harm.

Recommendations that will help keep freshness of purchased milk as long as possible

There are several simple and very effective tricks that allow you to slightly increase the shelf life of the drink. You can start with a trip to the store:

Milk should be the last product placed in the basket and the first, put into the appropriate chamber in the refrigerator. Even such a seemingly insignificant reduction in the residence time of the product under adverse conditions will add several hours of freshness to it.
If milk is purchased regularly and in significant quantities, you should consider purchasing a cooler bag. An affordable device will allow you to take your time home from the store.

In addition, it is worth making several useful changes to your usual lifestyle:

The drink should be consumed within two days after opening, even if its shelf life allows more. In this case, the main time the container should be in the refrigerator, and not at room temperature. Differences in indicators will not positively affect the liquid.
It is better to purchase several small packages of the product than one large one (even if the family is large and the drink is consumed on time). The air in the container accelerates the spoilage of the product.
The bottle should be closed, put it away from strongly smelling products. If the milk was originally in the bag, it can be poured into a sterile jar or bottle of suitable volume.
For milk, the coldest shelves are best, rather than the traditionally used door trays.

Light exposure to milk should be minimized. Ultraviolet destroys certain vitamins, reducing the value of the product.
It is strictly forbidden to pour a drink that is not drunk or not used during cooking into the container with milk. It is better to pour it into a clean container and put it separately.
Powdered milk can be stored for up to six months only in sealed form. After opening the package, the product should be used within a month. The powder diluted with water should be consumed in 2-3 days.
Thawing a pre-frozen product is carried out only in the refrigerator. If there are signs of delamination of the drink, you just need to beat it with a blender. The lower the percentage of fat in milk, the lower the risk of a change in its palatability after freezing.
Opened condensed milk must be poured into an airtight container made of plastic and frozen. In this form, it can remain up to 6 weeks without loss of properties and taste.

Any experimentation with a food product can end in failure. Therefore, do not try to increase the shelf life of milk in questionable ways, for example, by adding food preservatives.